City Of Wilmington And Its Fire Union Have A New Four-Year Labor Contract

From the City of Wilmington:

May 28, 2020

Ruling follows multiple-year labor dispute; firefighter salaries will increase; new shift assignments will start July 1, essentially ending the need for a rolling bypass

The Executive Director of the Delaware Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) today exercised her authority through Binding Interest Arbitration (BIA) and selected the City’s contract proposal, which will now be the basis for a new four-year contract between the City and its firefighter union. The ruling breaks a labor contract stalemate going back several years between the City and the firefighter union, Local 1590 of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF). In late February, the City and fire union offered testimony to PERB and presented their last, best, and final offers.

The new City contract selected by PERB provides a 2% cost of living (salary) increase each year of the contract (or 8% over the life of the contract) for the City’s 153 firefighters. Salaries will increase an additional 16% once the City initiates a new 24-hour on-duty and 48-hour off-duty shift beginning July 1, which requires firefighters to work an additional 13 days per year, from the current average of 90 days (24-hour days) to 103 days (24-hour days).

In addition, the firefighters will contribute more for their healthcare. They will pay 12% of the cost starting July 1, 2020. The contributions will be reduced to 10% provided they engage with their physicians and undergo age-appropriate medical screenings. This mirrors the rates paid by the City’s police officers and most other City employees.

The contract also holds firefighters more accountable to the Fire Department and to their colleagues when exchanging a day off with another firefighter. The new process limits exchange days to six instead of the current unlimited allowance, preventing firefighters from taking extended time off. This change will help with fire company continuity, scheduling, training, and personal performance evaluations.

Mayor Mike Purzycki hailed the new agreement imposed today by the PERB’s Executive Director, Deborah Murray-Sheppard, as well as her decision in 2019 establishing the City’s right to set work shifts for firefighters. “This contract finally moves us forward on new levels of compensation for firefighters and essentially eliminates the need for a rolling bypass, when a fire vehicle is taken out of service because there are not enough firefighters working on a particular day to staff the vehicle,” said Mayor Purzycki. “We will begin a new work shift this summer that will end daily staff shortages so the department can operate all of its vehicles, unless, of course, there is an unanticipated staffing shortage.”

The Mayor said Fire Chief Mike Donohue has been managing his department superbly under difficult staffing conditions for nearly four years, as other Fire Chiefs have had to do because of the current 24-hour on-duty and 72-hour off-duty shift— conditions that the Mayor said will now improve with the new shift.

The previous firefighter labor agreement with the City expired in June of 2016. The Purzycki Administration renewed contract talks with the union in January of 2019, but the two sides did not see eye-to-eye on matters. They agreed to mediation that ended in an impasse in November of 2019 after the PERB-appointed mediator was unable to broker a deal. A month later, in December of 2019, the City and Local 1590 moved to Binding Interest Arbitration. In January of 2020, PERB facilitated a tentative contract settlement, but it was rejected a few weeks later by the Local 1590 membership.

This press release was produced by the City of Wilmington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.